Field
The present specification generally relates to the manufacture of discrete sheets of brittle material, such as glass, ceramic or the like, and, more specifically, to apparatuses for separating sheets of brittle material from continuous ribbons of brittle material and methods for separating sheets of brittle material from continuous ribbons of brittle material.
Technical Background
Sheets of brittle material, such as sheets of glass or ceramic material, may be formed as continuous ribbons. For example, continuous glass ribbons are commonly formed by downdraw processes, such a fusion draw processes or slot draw processes. As the molten glass is drawn, the glass cools and solidifies. Ultimately, individual sheets of glass are sectioned from the continuous glass ribbon. These individual sheets of glass sectioned from continuous glass ribbons can be used in a variety of devices including flat panel displays, touch sensors, photovoltaic devices and other electronic applications.
The rate of ribbon formation is often adjusted to accommodate the speed of manufacturing processes downstream of the ribbon formation as the cycle time of such processes (such as separation processes and the like) are often slower than the maximum rate of ribbon formation. For example, in continuous glass ribbon forming operations, the glass ribbon is often segmented in to discrete glass sheets utilizing equipment that tracks with and attaches to the continuous glass ribbon as the glass ribbon is conveyed in a draw direction. Once the separation operation is completed, the equipment detaches from the glass ribbon and cycles upstream to repeat the process. The cycle time of these operations is slower than the maximum rate of ribbon formation and, as such, the rate of ribbon formation is reduced to accommodate the cycle time of the separation process. However, reducing the cycle time of the processes also reduces production throughput.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative methods and apparatuses for separating discrete sheets of brittle material from continuous ribbons of brittle material.